Ngu Binh Restaurant

"Westminster Vietnamese $ Orange County’s Little Saigon — bestriding Westminster and Garden Grove, and encompassing the U.S.’ largest Vietnamese population — could and should have its own 101 best restaurants list. Previous recommendations in this guide have included Brodard Chateau, with its tapered nem nuong and its exhaustive menu, and Pho 79, where long-simmered oxtail meat is a key addition to the oniony spiced broth. Add another to your roster: Ngu Binh in Westminster, where Mai Tran prepares dishes from Thua Thien Hue, a province in central Vietnam famous for its royal cuisine. Bún bò Hue dac biet (spicy noodle soup abundant with several cuts of pork and beef), bánh bèo (slippery rice cakes textured with minced shrimp and crunchy pork skin) and bánh ít kep bánh ram (dumplings of glutinous rice dough filled with shrimp and pork and then set on a disc of lacy fried dough) are excellent immersions into Tran’s regional specialties. A new location in Fountain Valley, alternately referred to as Ngu Binh 2 or V-Land, has an expanded menu of translucent dumplings and tables outfitted with big comfy wicker chairs."